Automatic feed apparatus for screw blanks



July 21 1925. 1,546,915

A. N. CALKINS AUTOMATIC FEED APPARATUS FOR SCREW BLANKS Filed Feb. 18, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 July 21 1925. 1,546,915

A. N. CALKINS AUTOMATIC FEED APPARATUS FOR SCREW BLANKS Filed Feb. 18. 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 iii Patented July 21, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

, ARTHUR N. GALKINS, OF PELHAJB'I BAY, NE'W' YORK, ASSIGNOR T0 BOWEN HARD- WARE CORPORATION, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

AUTOMATIC FEED APPARATUS FOR SCREW BLANKS.

Application filed February 18, 1924. Serial No. 693,630.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, An'rrrun N. GALKINS, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Pelham Bay, in the county of Bronx and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Feed Apparatus for Screw Blanks, of which the following is a specification.

Tl e invention relates to an automatic feed apparatus for metal blanks having a shank and head such, forexample, as screw blanks, and is designed to feed the said blanks thru suitable chute for presenting them in the proper position for subsequent operation thereon.

I It has for its object to provide a simple, rugged and inexpensive feed mechanism by which the proper feed of the blanks will be insured; also, to afford an adjustable chute to accommodate various sized blanks. To this end, the invention consists in a hopper device into which the blanks may be thrown indiscriminately and become suitably positioned therein and delivered therefrom by oscillating the said hopper, which is pro vided with a suitable delivery outlet for the release of the blanks therefrom into a suit able chute, the delivery, however, occurring only in a predetermined position of the hopper.

r The nature of the invention, however, will best be understood when described in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which-- Fig. l is a side elevation of the improved feeding apparatus.

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the feeding apparatus. r

Fig. 3 is a plan view looking in the direction of the arrow, Fig 1.

4-. is a transverse fragmentary section of the hopper, taken on the lines 44, Fig. 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Similar characters of reference designate corresponding parts thruout the several views.

Referring to the drawings, 10 designates the frame of a suitable press in which screw or like blanks 11 are to be subsequently operated on in manner well understood; and from which press movement for operating the feeding apparatus may be obtained, for example, thru the crank shaft 12 thereof.

The said apparatus comprises essentially a suitable container, as the rectangular box Disposed upon either side of the slot i is a pair of upright plates or rail members whose upper edges taper oil toward the rear of the hopper bottom and, preferably, are also notched as at 21 substantially midway thereof. The blanks 11 are thrown into the box 13 indiscriminately and will be dirested toward the slot 15 thereof due to the inclined sides i l, gravitating with the shank downward and into the slot, especially when the box is agitated by rocking same, will hereinafter be more fully described.

.ll hen in the inclined position, shown in Fig. 1, the blanks thus located in the slot will slide along the upper edges of the rails which are spaced a distance apart somewhat greater than the thickness of the shank of the blank but such that the head thereof 1 will rest upon the upper edges. Within the hopper, accurate spacing of the plates is not so essential so long as their edges will sup port the head of a blank. ()wing to the taper of the upper edges of the rails 20, the blanks will be gradually raised up into the hopper, as indicated. Moreover, in view of the notching of these rails, blanks already advanced toward the forward end of the hopper cannot slide back to the rear of the hopper upon lowering of the latter and again mixed up therein. r

In order to permit of the delivery of the blanks from the hopper, the forward bevelled portion is provided with an outlet opening 22 above the open end of the slot at the front of the hopper, said outlet 22 being sufiicient to pass a head of the blank. There is provided, furthermore, upon the inner side of the hopper an adjustable guide member 23 over the rails at the said opening 22 to hold a head of a blank to the edges of the rails 20.

As the blanks 11 are delivered thru the outlet 22 they are received by a suitable chute, for sample, one composed of similarly separa ed plates 25, the inlet of the chute being located in proximity to the outlet 22 and the respective rail edges registering when the hopper in a predetermined position. as the inclined position indicated. These plates are to be more accurately spaced thai the plates 20 of the hopper; and to this end are secured ad aiitably' to a holding bracket therefor by means of adjusting screws 2?. A uide member or rail 28 for e? gaging the heads of the blanks running on the edges of the plates 25 is also provided for said blank heads and extends over same between the plates 25. l v here it i.-; desi d to change the plane of presentation of the blank, as from the vertical one indicated at the upper portion of the chute, the plates and 28 may be given a twist tl the desired angle, for example 90 as indicated. The blanks are thus delivered from the outlet of the chute in a horizontal position for subsequent operation thereon.

In order to attain the predetermined delivery position of the hopper, which is substantially the upper limit of its movement, as well as to assist the proper positioningof the blanks in the hopper slot 15 by agitating the said hopper, the same is arrai'iged to be oscillated from the inclined position shown to a position below the horizontal, whereby the blanks are directed to the rear end of the hopper. This may be attained by any convenient means, for example by a cam 30, driven thru intermediate mechanism from the crank shaft 12, and engaging a roller 31 on a pivoted lever 32 whose free end rests against a roller 33 attached to the underside of the hopper. In this manner, the hopper is continuously oscillated, directing thereby the blanks thrown therein and sorting them into position in the slot 15 and causing, also, the same to move along the rails 20 to be delivered thru the outlet 22 of the hopper as set forth.

I claim 1. In an automatic feed apparatus for blanks having a shank and head: a pivotally mounted hopper therefor having a slot along the bottom and extending thru one end of the hopper; a pair of stepped guide rails disposed along the bottom of said hopper upon opposite sides of said slot and the hopper at one end being provided with an outlet registering with the open slot end; and means to oscillate the hopper in a vertical plane.

2. In an automatic feed apparatus for screw blanks: a pivotally mounted hopper with inclined sides to direct the blanks toward the middle of the bottom of the hopper, said bottom having a slot extending longitudinally from rear to front wall and thru the latter; a air of stepped and inclined guide rails tapering oii' toward the rear of the hopper and disposed along the bottom thereof upon opposite sides of the said slot therein, the front of the hopper being provided with an outlet above the open slot end to pass the head of a blank; a guide member mounted at the outlet over the rails to hold blanks to the rails; and means to os illate the hopper in a vertical plane.

ln an automatic feed apparatus for screw blanks: a pivotally mounted hopper with inclined sides to direct the blanks toward the middle of the bottom of the hopper, said bottom having a slot extending longitudinally from. rear to front wall and thru the latter; a pair of stepped and inclined guide rails tapering off toward the rear of the hopper and disposed along the bottom upon opposite sides of said slot, the front of the hopper being provided with an. outlet above the slot end to pass the head of a blank: a guide member at the outlet over the rails to hold blanks to the rails: means to oscillate the hopper in a vertical plane, and comprising a roller secured to the bottom of the hopper, a lever against which one end of said roller rests, a roller on said lever, a cam cooperating therewith to oscillate the lever, and means to rotate said cam; and an inclined chute for the hopper registering with the outlet thereof to receive the blanks discharged therefrom, and comprising a pair of separated and adjustable side plates, the head of a blank being adapted to ride on the upper edges thereof, and a member extending over and between said plates to engage the blank heads for retaining the blanks in the chute.

Signed at New York, in the county of Bronx and State of New York, this lath day of February A. D. 1924-.

ARTHUR N. CALKINS. 

